After an interrupted few weeks through Champions League, FA Cup and International fixtures, the EPL returned on the weekend and we are already backing it up with another mid-week round on Wednesday and Tuesday morning (AEST). With a Chelsea loss on the weekend, the title race has life once more with just 9 games left in the season. See our preview and betting tips for the key games in Week 31 of the 2016-17 EPL season here.
EPL Week 31 Betting Tips
Manchester United vs Everton (Wednesday 5am AEST)
Everton were extremely disappointing against Liverpool on the weekend, going down 3-1 while contributing to our poor 1-3 record for Week 30 tips. We’ll forgive them for being a fairly decent cash cow for us all year, but definitely be more hesitant backing them going forward, especially as they have another tough away game this weekend against the Red Devil.
While Manchester still only sit 5th on the table, 5 points adrift of their cross town rivals, their form cannot be denied. After a 0-0 draw with West Brom on the weekend, United are unbeaten through their last 21 Premier League games, dating all the way back to their 4-0 loss to Chelsea in Week 9. The problem is being able to score enough goals to win, with just 42 on the season so far, they are the worst by far of any of the top 7 teams and have a league leading 11 draws.
They have allowed a very stingy 23 goals on the season so far and considering Everton really looked ordinary going forward last week against Liverpool who have been known to leak goals, we like the Red Devils to keep this one pretty low scoring.
TIP: Total Goals UNDER 2.5 - $1.94 at Unibet
Swansea City vs Tottenham (Thursday 4.45am AEST)
Hard to find a case for Swansea here, who secured just one point against a lacklustre Middlesbrough team in Wales over the weekend. Swansea have been extremely out of touch lately, and now find themselves firmly back in the relegation race, just one point ahead of 18th placed Hull City.
Tottenham on the other hand have looked fantastic, winning their last 4 games as they begin to slowly reel in Chelsea at the top of the table. A dominant 2-0 performance over Burnley on the weekend, which has proven to be one of the harder places to play all season, shows that there’s no trouble for the travelling Spurs, and we expect them to have a field day in Wales against the most porous defence in the league.
TIP: Tottenham -1 - $1.73 at bet365
Chelsea vs Manchester City (Thursday 5am AEST)
The game of the mid-week round sees Manchester City travel to London to take on Chelsea in a top of the table clash. Chelsea will be desperate for a win here to keep some distance between themselves and the surging Tottenham, however, with the Spurs drawing Swansea this week and the Blues copping Man City, we could see the margin shortened even more come Thursday.
Extremely tough game to pick here, both Chelsea and Man City were dominating a few weeks ago but slip ups to Crystal Palace and Arsenal respectively over the weekend gives doubts to both teams. Chelsea will enter as slight favourites with the home field advantage, but I wouldn’t feel confident picking a winner here. Both teams have been proficient scoring the ball this year so we’ll look for them to slot 3 home between them.
TIP: Total goals OVER 2.5 - $1.80 at Sportsbet
Burnley vs Stoke City (Wednesday 4.45am AEST)
The value game of the week sees Stoke travel to Burnley Wednesday morning. While they sit just 16th on the table, Burnley’s home record has been one of the most impressive all season. Their 9 wins at Turf Moor so far is by far the most of any side outside the top 8 while they have an impressive +8 goal difference in front of their home fans.
Stoke have lost their last 2 games and are on the slide down the EPL table, having won just 2 of their last 10. Stokes home field is a fortress, but they aren’t known as being good travellers, having won just 3 games on the road this season. All signs point to Burnley securing maximum points here.
TIP: Burnley to win - $2.48 at bet365
